Jay Gruden, RG3 and their Creighton Farms connection

It wasn’t a sure thing by any stretch, but when the Washington Redskins signed Jay Gruden as their head coach in January, the odds favored the former Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator finding his way to the doorstep of W. Scott Prendergast.

Prendergast, CEO of Apex Customs Homes, has built homes for Redskins star quarterback Robert Griffin III, former safety LaRon Landry and defensive end Stephen Bowen. He has cultivated ongoing relationships that appear to draw members of D.C.’s pro football team to custom-built homes at the posh Creighton Farms golf course resort community in Loudoun County.

What’s the attraction of Creighton Farms? Prendergast said many of the Redskins players like a luxury gated community, with plenty of security to keep adoring fans from knocking on their doors for autographs. It’s also close to the team’s practice facility in Ashburn.

“He came and I think they really fell in love with the home,” which was completed last month. Finishing touches were overseen by the Grudens as construction wrapped up, Prendergast said.

Griffin, who bought a home from Prenderast last year, is in a different part of Creighton Farms but will be close enough that the head coach and his QB will be able to go over game plans and get together for barbecues. Gruden’s house is in a newer portion of the development, called the Enclave, and was designed with 16-foot-high ceilings, four bedrooms and more than 5,000 square feet of space. Apex has built three of 10 lots there and is now working on its fourth.

Prendergast said the head coach and his wife are both “very nice, very down-to-earth.” That goes, he said, for Gruden’s off-the-field persona. On the field, he said, “Jay is very intense. My dealings were mainly with Sherry. He is obviously very focused on practices and getting the team back on track.”